Celebrations for Queen City's King

5:55 AM,
Aug. 19, 2013

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Written by

Steven Rosen
| Enquirer contributor

It was 70 years ago this September - the actual date isn't clear - that a West End record store owner named Syd Nathan took two country musicians working for WLW radio to Dayton to record. Nobody in that car had any experience doing that - but that soon would change.

It was the start of Cincinnati's King Records, which before ending its local presence in 1971 would change and shape pop music history by releasing rock, R&B and country classics by James Brown, Hank Ballard, Cowboy Copas, Bull Moose Jackson, the Stanley Brothers, Little Willie John, Freddie King and more - all with a reputation for ...